The Envoy by Warren Zevon

The Envoy is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon. The album was released on July 16, 1982, by Asylum Records. The album's lack of commercial success caused Zevon's label to terminate his recording contract, a fact that Zevon discovered only after reading about it in Rolling Stone. In reaction, Zevon went on a self-destructive binge that nearly killed him, followed by a rehab stint that kept Zevon clean and sober for the rest of his life.The title track was inspired by veteran American diplomat Philip Habib's shuttle diplomacy during Israel's Lebanon incursion of 1982. Zevon later said of the album's lack of success, "I would start a record more or less as soon as I'd finished the one previous to it, and they took longer, cost more and more, and actually did sort of less and less well. Particularly The Envoy. I was a little discouraged after that."